Critical Comparison: Silvercrest Asset Management Group (NASDAQ:SAMG) & B. Riley Financial (NASDAQ:RILY)

B. Riley Financial (NASDAQ:RILY) and Silvercrest Asset Management Group (NASDAQ:SAMG) are both small-cap business services companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership, profitability and earnings.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares B. Riley Financial and Silvercrest Asset Management Group”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
B. Riley Financial	$1.65 billion	0.09	-$99.91 million	($5.01)	-1.02
Silvercrest Asset Management Group	$117.41 million	2.10	$9.09 million	$0.80	22.21

Silvercrest Asset Management Group has lower revenue, but higher earnings than B. Riley Financial. B. Riley Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Silvercrest Asset Management Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility & Risk

B. Riley Financial has a beta of 1.24, indicating that its share price is 24% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Silvercrest Asset Management Group has a beta of 0.83, indicating that its share price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for B. Riley Financial and Silvercrest Asset Management Group, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
B. Riley Financial	0	0	0	0	0.00
Silvercrest Asset Management Group	0	0	1	0	3.00

Profitability

This table compares B. Riley Financial and Silvercrest Asset Management Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
B. Riley Financial	-9.28%	-25.84%	-1.75%
Silvercrest Asset Management Group	6.24%	11.40%	7.64%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

50.2% of B. Riley Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 47.6% of Silvercrest Asset Management Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 32.9% of B. Riley Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 16.2% of Silvercrest Asset Management Group shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Silvercrest Asset Management Group beats B. Riley Financial on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About B. Riley Financial

B. Riley Financial, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides financial services to corporate, institutional, and high net worth clients in North America, Australia, the Asia Pacific, and Europe. The company operates through six segments: Capital Markets, Wealth Management, Financial Consulting, Auction and Liquidation, Communications, and Consumer. The Capital Markets segments offers investment banking, equity research, institutional sales and trading, securities lending, fund and asset management, direct lending, venture capital, proprietary trading, and investment services; merger and acquisition, restructuring advisory, and recapitalization services; public and private equity offerings; and debt financing solutions. This segment also trades in equity securities. The Wealth Management segment provides wealth management and tax services. The Financial Consulting segment offers bankruptcy restructuring and turnaround management, forensic accounting and litigation support, valuation and appraisal, and real estate services. The Auction and Liquidation Segment provides auction and liquidation services. The Communications segment offers dial-up, mobile broadband and digital subscriber line services under the NetZero and Juno brands; cloud communication services; VoIP cloud-based technology and communication devices and subscription services through magicJack; and mobile phone voice, text, and data services and devices through Marconi Wireless. The Consumer segment sells laptop and computer accessories. The company was formerly known as Great American Group, Inc. and changed its name to B. Riley Financial, Inc. in November 2014. B. Riley Financial, Inc. was founded in 1973 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.

About Silvercrest Asset Management Group

Silvercrest Asset Management Group Inc., a wealth management firm, provides financial advisory and related family office services in the United States. The company serves ultra-high net worth individuals and families, as well as their trusts; endowments; foundations; and other institutional investors. It also manages funds of funds and other investment funds. The company was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in New York, New York.